PRIVATE  FORESTRY 


By 
HENRY  S.  GRAVES 

Forester,  Forest  Service 


Address  before  the  New  England  Forestry 
Conference,  Boston,  February  24,  1919 


UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 

CIRCULAR  129 
OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY 


Washington.D.  C. 


March.  1919 


WASHINGTON  :  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE      IBII 


f*f 


Agric. -Forest  Maim 


PRIVATE  FORESTRY. 


[Address  by  Henry  S.  Graves  before  the  New  England  Forestry  Conference, 
Boston,  February  24,  1919.] 


IMPORTANCE  OF  PRIVATE  FORESTS. 

THE  emphasis  placed  on  the  public  forests  in  recent  years  has 
tended  to  throw  into  the  background  the  problems  of  our  pri- 
vate forests.  The  very  magnitude  of  the  National  Forest  enterprise 
has  created  in  the  minds  of  many  people  the  impression  that  the 
problem  of  forestry  in  this  country  is  already  on  the  way  to  definite 
solution.  In  point  of  fact  only  certain  initial  steps  have  been  taken ; 
the  most  difficult  problem,  that  of  the  protection  and  right  handling 
of  forests  privately  owned,  is  still  before  us.  The  importance  of 
the  private  forests  to  our  country  is  evident  when  one  considers  that 
97  per  cent  of  the  timber  and  other  wood  products  used  in  the  United 
States  is  obtained  from  them.  Less  than  2  per  cent  of  the  saw- 
mills of  the  country  are  operating  on  public  forests.  Private  owners 
hold  four-fifths  of  the  standing  timber  of  the  country,  and  it  is  the 
best  and  most  accessible  timber.  Nearly  the  entire  supply  of  cer- 
tain important  commercial  species  is  in  private  ownership,  such  as 
eastern  white  pine  and  spruce,  southern  pine,  cypress,  redwood,  and 
most  of  the  hardwoods. 

DIFFICULTIES  ENCOUNTERED  IN  MEETING  WAR  DEMANDS  FOR 

TIMBER. 

The  experience  of  the  war  called  sharp  attention  to  the  condition 
of  our  remaining  timber  supplies.  The  bulk  of  the  material  for  gen- 
eral construction  was  obtained  from  a  few  large  centers  of  original 
forest,  often  involving  long  rail  hauls  and  high  cost.  Extreme  dif- 
ficulties were  encountered  in  obtaining  promptly  an  adequate  supply 
of  specialized  products,  like  some  of  the  high-grade  hardwoods.  If 
the  emergency  had  come  15  years  from  now  we  would  have  had 
very  great  embarrassment  in  obtaining  even  the  lumber  needed  for 
general  construction,  except  at  great  sacrifice  in  time,  cost,  and 

108109°— 10  3 


ORESTRY. 


crowding  of  the  railroads.  Most  of  the  lumber  would  have  come 
from  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  may  not  expect  a  repetition  of  such  a 
grave  emergency  as  we  have  just  passed  through,  but  we  would  be 
unwise  indeed  if  we  failed  to  recognize  "that  the  sources  of  timber 
supply  upon  which  we  have  relied  are  being  greatly  Depleted,  with 
far-reaching  economic  and  industrial  consequences. 

WANING  SUPPLIES  OF  VIRGIN  TIMBER. 

Many  people  are  deluding  themselves  with  the  idea  that  we  do  not 
need  to  concern  ourselves  with  regard  to  forests  because  of  large 
virgin  supplies  which  still  exist  in  the  Pacific  Northwest,  the  Inland 
Empire,  and  California.  I  have  even  heard  it  suggested  that  if  we 
should  use  up  or  destroy  all  of  the  forests  in  the  United  States,  there 
are  very  considerable  quantities  of  wood  supplies  in  the  great  river 
valleys  of  Brazil  and  other  South  American  countries. 

Leaders  of  the  southern  pine  manufacturers  state  that  the  bulk  of 
the  original  supplies  of  yellow  pine  in  the  South  will  be  exhausted 
in  10  years  and  that  within  the  next  five  to  seven  years  more  than 
3,000  manufacturing  plants  will  go  out  of  existence.  This  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly significant  statement,  because  it  means  that  the  center  of 
lumber  production  of  the  United  States  will  within  no  long  time 
move  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  While  it  does  not  mean  that  there  will 
be  an  actual  exhaustion  of  all  of  the  timber  in  the  South,  it  does 
mean  that  the  competitive  influence  of  southern  pine  in  many  mar- 
kets will  be  withdrawn  and  that  there  will  be  the  increase  of  prices 
that  inevitably  must  follow  such  an  important  economic  occurrence 
as  the  shift  of  the  center  of  supply  of  a  raw  material  one  to  three 
thousand  miles.  N 

One  of  the  most  acute  problems  of  forest  supplies  is  that  of  wood 
pulp,  particularly  the  material  suitable  for  news  print.  Already 
paper  manufacturers  are  embarrassed  for  supplies.  Some  of  our 
principal  paper  concerns  have  fortified  themselves  by  purchasing 
large  blocks  of  timber  in  Canada.  Many  of  you  are  familiar  with 
the  progressive  diminution  of  supplies  in  the  regions  like  the  White 
Mountains,  where  private  owners  are  rapidly  working  back  on  the 
high  slopes,  even  stripping  off  areas  which  for  the  general  public 
benefit  should  be  kept  substantially  intact  for  all  time.  It  is  my  hope 
that  we  may  secure  sufficient  public  support  to  enable  us  to  accelerate 
the  acquisition  by  the  Government  of  the  more  important  remaining 
areas  before  it  is  too  late.  The  claim  is  made  that  the  Adirondack 
State  Preserve  should  be  opened  to  cutting  because  of  the  urgent 
need  of  supplies  for  the  paper  mills  in  the  near  future.  The  question 
of  supplying  the  paper  mills  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  is  even  more 
acute,  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  those  mills  will  have  to 


PKIVATE  FORESTRY.  5 

import  their  pulp  wood  from  a  long  distance  or  liquidate  investments 
of  great  value  in  water  power  and  plant  and  move  to  new  sources 
of  supplies.  Partly  owing  to  the  rapid  exhaustion  of  the  old  sources 
of  wood-pulp  supply  and  partly  owing  to  the  tariff  laws  of  Canada, 
American  capital  is  going  into  that  country  to  build  mills  to  supply 
this  country  with  wood  pulp  and  paper.  Within  the  last  10  years 
new  mill  development  for  news-print  manufacture  in  this  country 
has  almost  wholly  ceased,  while  in  Canada  during  that  time  no  less 
than  28  mills  have  been  built,  largely  with  American  capital.  It 
would  be  possible  for  me  to  describe  the  acute  situation  confronting 
many  of  the  other  industries  that  use  special  classes  of  forest  prod- 
ucts, due  to  the  uncertainty  in  regard  to  supplies  in  the  future.  I 
refer  to  industries  that  use  oak,  hickory,  cherry,  yellow  poplar, 
walnut,  and  ash. 

Douglas  fir  from  the  Pacific  coast  is  already  coming  into  the  New 
England  market.  This  means  that  because  of  the  diminishing  sup- 
plies in  the  East  the  prices  have  risen  to  a  point  where  it  is  possible 
to  ship  lumber  3,000  miles  in  competition  with  that  produced  locally. 
With  the  further  reduction  of  home  spruce  supplies,  the  approach- 
ing exhaustion  of  white  pine  in  the  Lake  States,  and  the  withdrawal 
within  a  few  years  of  southern  pine  as  a  competitive  factor,  the 
East  will  be  turning  more  and  more  to  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  Lake  States,  which  a  few  years  ago  were  the  greatest 
producers  of  timber,  are  to-day  paying  a  freight  bill  of  about 
$6,000,000  a  year  to  bring  in  lumber  and  other  products  from  out- 
side sources. 

NEW  ENGLAND  NO  LONGER  SELF-SUPPORTING  IN  TIMBER 

RESOURCES. 

About  30  years  ago  New  England  was  not  only  self-supporting  in 
her  timber  resources,  but  exported  large  quantities  to  other  parts  of 
the  country  and  abroad.  Within  the  last  15  years  New  England 
has  become  an  importing  region  and  looks  more  and  more  for  timber 
supplies  to  the  South,  to  the  Lake  States,  and  even  to  the  Pacific 
coast.  It  is  estimated  that  fully  30  per  cent  of  all  the  lumber  used 
in  New  England  now  comes  from  outside  the  region.  This  is  in 
addition  to  the  importations  of  large  quantities  of  pulp  wood.  New 
England  is  one  of  the  important  centers  for  wood-using  industries. 
Heretofore  many  of  these  industries  have  drawn  upon  local  sup- 
plies. It  is  estimated  that  the  annual  growth  in  New  England  of 
forest  materials  that  will  be  suitable  for  lumber  or  other  higher 
uses  is  less  than  half  of  what  is  being  cut.  These  are  facts  of  vital 
interest  to  a  region  that  has  about  $300,000,000  invested  in  the  wood 
and  forest  industries  and  employs  in  this  connection  over  90,000  wage 
earners. 


6  'PRIVATE  FORESTRY. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  FOREST  POLICIES   OF  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND. 

It  happens  that  the  area  of  forest  land  in  New  England  is  about 
25,000,000  acres.  This  is  almost  the  same  as  the  forest  area  of  France, 
and  in  many  respects  the  character  of  the  forest  has  marked  points 
of  similarity.  France  is  producing  by  growth  each  year  50  per  cent 
more  than  New  England.  She  has  for  years  been  improving  her  for- 
ests and  approaching  a  point  where  she  can  furnish  most  of  her  do- 
mestic needs.  New  England  by  progressive  diminution  of  capital 
stock  and  failure  adequately  to  produce  forests  is  going  in  exactly 
the  other  direction,  losing  ground  every  year.  Before  the  war  France 
was  building  up  her  forest  resources;  New  England  has  been  pro- 
gressively destroying  hers.  Before  the  war  France  was  importing 
about  80,000,000  cubic  feet  of  lumber.  New  England's  imports  ex- 
ceed this  amount.  The  forest  and  wood-using  industries  of  France 
furnished  employment  to  over  700,000  persons,  and  because  the  forests 
were  handled  in  a  way  to  keep  up  production  by  growth  this  employ- 
ment was  permanent.  It  was  the  small  industries  supported  from 
local  forests  that  furnished  employment  to  so  many  people. 

England  before  the  war  felt  herself  quite  independent  in  forest 
matters.  Her  large  merchant  marine  made  it  possible  to  import  from 
many  competing  countries.  She  did  not  have  to  practice  forestry. 
During  1915  and  1916  the  excess  cost  over  previous  years  of  import- 
ing forest  materials  was  $185,000,000.  The  next  year  she  had  to 
stop  importing  almost  entirely.  She  then  cut  down  her  meager  for- 
ests and  park  timber,  and  finally  had  to  rely  on  France,  which  was 
supplying  the  needs  of  all  the  armies  on  the  west  front.  England 
now  plans  a  great  program  of  reforestation.  She  proposes  to  plant 
up  over  a  million  acres  in  the  next  40  years,  spending  during  the  first 
decade  over  $17,000,000.  England  does  not  intend  again  to  be  caught 
without  home  supplies. 

NEGLIGENT  FOREST  POLICY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

New  England  represents  in  many  ways  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions for  forestry  in  this  country.  The  region  is  naturally  endowed 
with  excellent  types  of  forest,  with  valuable  species,  and  a  climate 
favorable  for  tree  growth.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  land  suited 
only  to  growing  trees.  On  account  of  the  large  number  of  wood- 
using  industries,  markets  for  forest  products  are  excellent.  Trans- 
portation for  moving  these  products  is  well  developed.  The  public 
sentiment  regarding  forestry  is  in  advance  of  most  other  parts  of  the 
country.  Yet  even  under  these  favorable  conditions  New  England  is 
not  overcoming  the  destructive  influences  that  are  depleting  her  forest 
resources. 


PRIVATE  FORESTRY.  7 

The  situation  is  much  more  serious  in  other  sections  of  the  country. 
We  are  still  drawing  upon  original  timber  for  our  chief  national 
needs.  We  are  not  providing  for  a  proper  replacement  of  the  old 
stock  by  new  forest  growth.  Most  of  the  private  timber  is  cut  with- 
out any  regard  whatever  for  replacement.  Destructive  processes  are 
permitted  that  retard  or  actually  prevent  the  succession  of  a  good 
forest  growth.  Region  after  region  is  exhausted  of  old  supplies. 
Remnants  of  culled  forests  and  patches  of  second  growth  are  for  the 
most  part  not  being  protected.  We  are  failing  to  produce  by 
growth  the  materials  that  will  be  needed  for  local  industries,  needed 
to  make  a  large  part  of  our  land  useful  to  the  State  and  community, 
needed  to  prevent  one  part  of  the  country  becoming  dependent  on 
another  far-distant  part,  with  the  inevitabe  burden  of  high  prices. 

Nature  is  so  prolific  that  some  vegetation  usually  follows  the 
initial  stages  of  forest  destruction.  Occasionally,  by  a  combination 
of  adventitious  circumstances  and  in  spite  of  current  methods  em- 
ployed, reproduction  follows  unrestricted  cutting  or  even  a  fire  of 
moderate  proportions.  More  often  the  succeeding  growth  is  inferior. 
Repeated  fires  and  other  abuse  cause  further  deterioration,  so  that 
millions  of  acres  of  cut-over  land  are  covered  with  worthless  species 
or  brush  or  with  trees  that  are  so  crooked,  slow  growing,  or  defec- 
tive that  they  will  never  yield  products  of  value.  The  fact  that  there 
is  some  woody  growth  on  cut-over  lands  gives  a  false  impression. 
Very  commonly  it  is  but  a  screen  of  valueless  vegetation  that  conceals 
the  effects  of  forest  abuse.  Pennsylvania  has  its  great  forests  of 
low  scrub  oak  that,  through  repeated  fires,  have  replaced  a  growth 
of  valuable  trees.  Southern  New  England  has  thousands  of  acres  of 
slow-growing,  crooked  sprouts  of  hardwoods  replacing  pine  or 
thrifty  hardwoods.  Minnesota  has  hundreds  of  square  miles  of  bird 
cherry  and  fire  weed  in  place  of  her  former  wonderful  white  and  red 
pine.  The  South  has  its  worthless  black  jack  oak  replacing  the  yel- 
low pine.  The  Middle  West  has  her  heavily  grazed  woodlots  that  are 
almost  bare  of  young  growth.  California  has  its  chaparral  or  brush, 
the  effect  of  a  destructive  system  of  annual  or  periodic  burning  of 
pine  forests. 

Sometimes  forests  are  wiped  out  by  a  great  conflagration  like  that 
in  Minnesota  last  fall  that  killed  several  hundred  people  and  de- 
stroyed many  million  dollars'  worth  of  property.  Generally  the 
process  is  slower  and  less  spectacular,  but  the  consequences  are  just 
as  serious.  Already  the  general  effect  of  depleting  our  forest  re- 
sources is  being  felt  by  wood-using  industries  and  the  consumers  of 
lumber.  Hundreds  of  communities  are  suffering  because  the  resource 
supporting  their  chief  industry  has  been  exhausted.  Sawmills  and 


8  PRIVATE  FORESTRY. 

wood-working  establishments  close,  subsidiary  industries  can  no 
longer  exist,  the  population  moves  away,  farms  are  abandoned,  roads 
and  other  public  improvements  deteriorate,  and  whole  townships  and 
even  counties  are  impoverished.  A  few  individuals  may  have  real- 
ized handsomely  from  the  speculative  enterprise.  The  community 
has  beengutted  of  its  principal  capital.  It  has  lost  the  basis  for  in- 
dustry and  has  now  only  unproductive  land  that  for  many  years  will 
be  a  burden  rather  than  a  source  of  prosperity.  This  is  not  an  occa- 
sional occurrence.  It  is  the  history  of  millions  of  acres  of  land  un- 
productive and  now  an  economic  desert. 

PRIVATE  FORESTRY  MUST  SUPPLEMENT  PUBLIC  FORESTRY. 

I  am  advocating  a  large  program  of  public  forests  widely  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  country ;  but  the  solution  of  the  forest  prob- 
lem will  not  come  from  public  forests  alone.  Even  with  the  most 
liberal  policy  of  acquiring  additional  public  forests,  the  Nation's 
needs  with  respect  to  forests  in  the  future  will  have  to  be  met  in  con- 
siderable part  from  private  lands.  We  point  to  the  forests  of  France 
as  having  met  a  great  crisis  in  the  war.  Do  you  know  that  60  per 
cent  of  the  American  supplies  obtained  in  France  came  from  private 
forests  ? 

You  may  ask  if  the  increasing  interest  in  forestry  of  private  owners 
and  the  operation  of  State  forest  laws  are  not  likely  to  bring  greatly 
changed  conditions  in  the  near  future.  Unfortunately  this  will  not 
be  the  case  unless  a  much  more  comprehensive  and  effective  program 
is  adopted  by  the  public  and  there  is  a  radical  change  in  point  of 
view  and  methods  on  the  part  of  most  timberland  owners.  We  should 
give  credit  to  those  individual  owners  and  groups  who  are  endeavor- 
ing to  handle  their  timberlands  constructively.  Great  credit,  too, 
is  due  to  the  State  foresters  and  their  supporters  for  what  they  have 
achieved  in  the  face  of  public  indifference  and  even  hostility.  But 
when  we  consider  our  forests  as  a  whole  we  have  hardly  begun  to 
stem  the  tide  of  forest  destruction.  Even  in  the  matter  of  organized 
fire  protection  the  effort  on  private  lands  is  confined  chiefly  to  the 
protection  of  the  merchantable  timber.  Cut-over  lands  and  young 
tree  growth  ate  usually  not  protected  except  as  may  be  necessary  to 
safeguard  the  mature  timber;  and  over  a  great  part  of  the  country 
there  is  practically  no  effort  whatever  to  keep  out  fires. 

Timberland  owners  feel  that  they  can  not  change  their  present 
methods.  They  have  purchased  the  land  to  exploit  the  timber  and  not 
to  grow  a  new  crop  of  trees.  For  an  owner  who  intends  to  hold  his 
lands,  forestry  is  just  as  essential  as  is  agriculture  to  a  farmer.  But 
most  timberland  owners  do  not  intend  to  hold  their  lands  after  cut- 
ting the  timber ;  and  they  see  no  reason  why  they  should  expend  money 


PRIVATE  FORESTRY.  9 

or  effort  on  the  land  to  secure  public  benefits  or  to  avoid  injury  to  the 
community.  It  is  the  speculative  character  of  ownership  that  ex- 
plains the  lack  of  incentive  to  timberland  owners  to  handle  their 
lands  constructively.  And  we  may  not  expect  that  such  owners  will 
take  any  different  view  or  action  on  their  own  initiative.  The  profits 
of  forestry,  though  very  real,  do  not  furnish  in  themselves  a  sufficient 
incentive  to  cause  the  change. 

A  CONSTRUCTIVE  PROGRAM  FOR  PRIVATE  FORESTRY. 

I 

In  seeking  a  solution  for  the  forestry  problem  on  private  lands,  it 
should  be  recognized  that  its  very  character  is  such  as  to  require 
public  participation,  assistance,  and  direction.  There  are  certain 
things  that  the  public  should  do,  and  in  a  liberal  spirit,  to  make 
forestry  by  private  timberland  owners  possible  and  effective.  At  the 
same  time  the  public  should  insist  by  adequate  legislation  that  the 
destructive  processes  be  stopped,  and  that  methods  be  adopted  which 
will  leave  the  forests  in  a  productive  condition.  To  secure  these  ends 
there  is  necessary  a  broad  program  that  is  practicable  and  equitable, 
based  on  consideration  of  existing  economic  conditions.  Its  forma- 
tion calls  for  the  most  careful  constructive  thought,  with  no  point  of 
view  neglected. 

The  limits  of  this  paper  do  not  permit  the  discussion  of  all  the 
problems  that  must  be  considered  in  an  effective  program  of  for- 
estry on  private  lands.  Some  principles  may,  however,  be  briefly 
indicated.  A  program  of  forestry  should  include,  first  of  all,  com- 
pulsory fire  protection ;  and  this  should  apply  to  second  growth  and 
cut-over  lands  as  well  as  to  old  timber.  State  laws  should  be  un- 
equivocal, with  adequate  penalties,  in  their  requirements  upon  tim- 
berland owners  for  protective  measures,  including  the  prevention 
of  dangerous  accumulations  of  slashings.  Fire  protection  should  be 
organized  and  under  State  supervision.  The  States  should  provide 
an  effective  organization  to  enforce  the  fire  laws  and  to  administer 
the  organized  protective  work.  Liberal  funds  should  be  made  avail- 
able for  patrol,  improvements,  supervision,  and  inspection.  In  most 
of  the  States  the  laws  are  not  drastic  enough ;  there  is  not  sufficient 
direct  responsibility  on  the  owner,  and  there  are  not  provided  ade- 
quate means  to  execute  the  laws  and  administer  the  protective  work. 
The  damage  by  forest  fires  can  be  stopped.  Its  continuance  is  due  to 
a  combined  failure  on  the  part  of  the  public  and  the  owners. 

The  methods  of  cutting  determine  whether  for  one  or  perhaps  sev- 
eral tree  generations  the  lands  will  be  productive  or  not.  The  pub- 
lic in  its  own  protection  should  prohibit  destructive  methods  of  cut- 
ting that  injure  the  community  and  the  public  at  large.  With  the 
cooperation  of  the  public,  constructive  measures  of  forestry  are 
feasible.  They  should  be  mandatory. 


10  PRIVATE  FORESTRY. 

The  States  should  adopt  a  policy  of  taxation  of  forests  that  would 
encourage  rather  than  hinder  the  practice  of  forestry.  Present  tax 
policies  tend  to  force  early  cutting  and  add  to  the  burden  of  hold- 
ing young  forests. 

Other  factors  also  cause  premature  and  wasteful  cutting  in  most 
timberland  regions.  The  speculative  character  of  ownership,  the 
burdens  of  carrying  stumpage,  the  necessity  to  meet  the  interest  on 
borrowed  capital  and  other  fixed  charges,  and  the  uncertainties  re- 
garding markets,  labor,  and  other  conditions  are  among  the  causes 
of  the  haste  to  cut.  The  result  is  frequent  overproduction,  demorali- 
zation of  the  market,  and  industrial  instability.  Lumbermen  are  al- 
ready appealing  to  the  public  to  aid  them  to  bring  about  a  more 
stable  condition  of  the  industry.  They  have  requested  tax  reforms, 
the  naming  by  the  Government  of  "  fair  prices,"  based  on  cost  of 
production,  and  the  modification  of  the  Sherman  act  to  permit  agree- 
ments, in  restraint  of  trade,  for  the  curtailment  of  production. 

The  industrial  situation  is  one  that  demands  the  consideration  of 
the  public,  because  of  the  many- public  interests  involved,  including 
the  danger  to  our  remaining  forests.  I  do  not  Concur  in  the  pro- 
posals that  have  been  made  for  Federal  legislation  relative  to  agree- 
ments in  restraint  of  trade,  but  I  believe  that  public  participation  is 
necessary  to  meet  the'  difficulties.  The  solution  of  this  problem  in- 
volves many  features  that  can  be  taken  care  of  by  improvements 
within  the  industry  itself ;  others  require  public  cooperation  to  bring 
about  a  sounder  basis  of  ownership  and  financing  of  timberlands. 
In  any  case,  aid  extended  by  the  public  should  carry  with  it  an  in- 
sistence that  the  forest  lands  be  handled  constructively,  from  the 
standpoint  both  of  protection  and  of  forest  growth.  In  fact,  the 
very  measures  that  would  be  necessary  to  secure  a  right  handling  of 
forest  lands  would  go  far  in  solving  the  problem  of  instability  that 
constantly  menaces  the  lumber  industry  and  all  the  interests  de- 
pendent upon  it. 

A  program  of  forestry  should  include,  further,  cooperation  in 
problems  of  labor,  in  land  classification  looking  to  the  development 
of  agricultural  portions  of  cut-over  lands,  cooperation  in  colonization, 
public  activities  in  technical  and  economic  research,  cooperation  in 
the  methods  of  forestry,  and  so  on. 

The  farm  woodlot  offers  a  special  problem.  The  public  should 
lend  liberal  assistance  to  the  farmer  and  the  small  owners,  not  only 
in  demonstrating  the  best  methods  of  forestry  and  in  reforestation 
but  also  in  matters  which  pertain  to  marketing  the  products  of  the 
woodlot. 

Finally,  a  program  of  private  forestry  is  intimately  related  to  that 
of  public  forests.  We  should  greatly  extend  our  public  forests. 
Forests  on  critical  watersheds  should  be  owned  by  the  public  for  their 


PRIVATE  FORESTRY.  11 

* 

protective  value.  Public  forests  serve  also  as  centers  of  cooperation 
with  private  owners  and  as  demonstration  areas  for  the  practice  of 
forestry  as  well  as  furnishing  direct  benefits  in  producing  wood  mate- 
rials, as  recreation  grounds,  etc. 

NEED  OF  ACTION. 

We  have  been  discussing  these  problems  for  many  years,  but  we 
have  made  little  progress  in  securing  the  right  handling  of  private 
lands.  The  need  of  the  general  public  to  have  the  forest  lands  of 
the  country  productive  and  the  need  of  wood-consuming  industries 
alike  call  for  the  initiation  of  a  broad  program  of  forestry  that  in- 
cludes private  as  well  as  public  forests.  I  have  presented  some  of 
the  issues  as  I  see  them.  I  urge  that  those  interested  in  the  forest 
problem  join  in  bringing  about  some  definite  and  conclusive  action. 


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